Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Congratulations to the Thunderbirds who competed in the 31st Southern Open. Team members performed very well. For many of the team this was their first tournament. Congratulations to Coach Chris Johnson his coaching skills are evident in the results of this tournament.

Monday, April 30, 2018

The Chinese plant the seed:they water and fertilize it, but the first
year nothing happens.The second year
they water and fertilize it, and still nothing happens.The third and fourth years they water and
fertilize it, with no apparent results, and sometime during the course of the
fifth year, in a period of six weeks, the Chinese Bamboo Tree grows roughly
ninety feet.

The question is, did it grow ninety feet in six weeks or
did it grow ninety feet in five years?The obvious answer is that it grew ninety feet in five years because,
had they not had the perseverance to keep caring for the crop day in and day
out each year, even though they were not seeing immediate results, there would
be no Chinese Bamboo Tree.All of us
have had those “Chinese Bamboo Tree” experiences.We might have had a difficult assignment in
math, social studies or science.We had
to work at it again and again without coming up with the correct answer.Once we did finally get the answer it seemed
simple and obvious.We came up with the
answer not because of our intellectual brilliance, but because of our
perseverance.

It is important to understand that things in life are
sometimes going to become hard, but if we continue to persevere, keep working,
and do not give up we can achieve any goal we set.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Respect is often earned. This
means that we cannot expect people to treat us with respect if we do not treat
others in the same manner. If we call people names, talk about them to others,
and treat them badly, how can we expect them to treat us with respect? We
cannot demand that people show us respect. We have to earn it. Respect can be
earned in several ways. By showing others that you care, that you can be
trusted, that when you say you are going to do something you do it, and by
being willing to always help others when needed.

Confidence Builder

Breaking boards

Chicken Wing Take-down Armbar

Coach Martin demonstrate the chicken wing take-down which sets up the stepover armbar. Note: Coach Martin's front foot position, if the opponent rolls in to counter the armbar he is in position for Coach martin to apply the triangle.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Self-Respect

Self-respect is when we respect
ourselves and like who we are! It is very difficult for a person to like other
people and respect them, unless they respect themselves and like who they are.
When people disrespect others by treating them mean, like calling them names,
talking about them, or bully them, they do these things because of how they
feel about themselves. They do not like themselves or who they are so they try
to make themselves feel better by making others feel bad. So when someone is
not showing you respect and treating you mean, remember the things they are
saying to you or doing to you is how they feel about themselves.

Then someone that has self
respect would never treat themselves bad. They would always try to treat
themselves with respect. They would always keep themselves clean, never do
anything to hurt themselves like, smoke, drink, or take drugs. They would eat
the right foods and get plenty of exercise. They would study hard and apply
themselves to get great grades, and strive to be their best at everything they
attempt.

The bible defines respect as
“Doing unto others as you would have them to do unto you.” This simply means
that Respect is “Treating other people the way we would want to be treated.”

There are many ways to show
someone respect. Showing respect to others means we are polite to other people.
We reply when answering an adult by say “Yes Sir” or “No Ma’am”. We look people
in their eyes when they are speaking to us.We never interrupt someone when they are talking. We do not fight or
argue with others. Showing respect can also be how we help others, like by
opening the door for someone, or letting an older person have our seat when all
are taken. When our parents gives us orders, if we are respectful we always do
what they tell us and never talk back.

The people that deserve our
respect the most are those that care about us and try to help us. Like your parents,
teachers, pastors, karate instructors, and the elderly because many of the
things they have done in the past has made things better for us and we have
lots that we can learn from them. Whenever we are not sure if we are showing
the proper respect to someone, just ask yourself, how would I like others to
treat me in this situation.

How do we show respect? By demonstrating control

Monday, January 22, 2018

Did you know that our attitude
is contagious? How we think, act, and the things we say to others can spread to
them and affect their attitude. We can spread a positive attitude or a negative
attitude. We as martial artists have a responsibility to do our best to spread
a positive attitude. To do and say things that will help others. We can do this
by performing random acts of kindness for no other reason than to help someone.
Like open the door for someone, to give your seat on the bus to an elderly
person, or to help your brother or sister with their chores. We can spread a
positive attitude by using positive words and phrases when speaking to others.
We can have a positive outlook when bad things happen around us. We can use
understanding with the misfortunes that others may have. And finally, we can
simply use a smile when we greet other people.

These are simple ways that we can spread a positive
attitude and be a role-model to the people we meet. As martial artists, this is
our responsibility

Monday, January 15, 2018

Our attitude is our state of
mind, which is how you feel about yourself, other people, and the things around
you. A positive attitude allows us to develop into a happy and successful
person. Just as it is important for us to develop a positive attitude by
controlling our thinking and the things we say to ourselves, it is also
important to understand that others can affect our attitude as well.

Imagine that your mind is this
very special place, a magical container that whatever you allow into it will
determine what type of person you will become, how happy you will be, and what
level of success you will achieve. Remember the definition of Attitude is “Our
State of Mind”. We
have to guard and protect our mind to keep it healthy. Just like with your body
“you are what you eat”, with your mind, “you are what you let in it”.

We can not let others do what
is called “Garbage Dumping”, dumping their negative thoughts, feelings, and
images in our mind. We have to be careful not to listen to ugly words and bad
language of other people. We have to guard our mind against negative images we
see on TV or in magazines. All the negativity that is in this world, if we let
it in our minds, IT WILL affect who we become.

Remember, to have a positive
healthy attitude about life and to be happy and successful, we have to use
positive thinking from ourselves, and protect our mind from the negativity of
others.

Monday, January 8, 2018

Have you ever heard the
expression or saying, “Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude”? The definition
of Attitude is simply “State of Mind”. What
that means is how you feel about yourself, other people, and the things around
you. Most happy and successful people have a very positive state of mind. They
even see problems as opportunities to succeed instead of challenges. So it is
very important to understand that how we think, or our state of mind develops
our attitude, and our attitude will determine how happy and successful we are
in life.

Did you know that you control
your own attitude in a big part, simply by the things that you say? Words have
a great power! Using negatives words often like, I Can’t, I Hate, I Won’t, I
Quit, will unknowingly cause you to develop a negative or bad attitude. The
more you use these words, the less productive and happy you will become.

The rest of this week I want to
challenge you to notice how often we use negativity with our words. Even ask
our friends and parents to write down every time we use negativity in the
things we say. And I want you to understand that the first step in developing a
happy, successful, winning, and positive attitude is within yourself.